I was mostly just assuming that people at Google have a relatively stable job, which is really all you need to start being financially responsible and do things like set any amount of money aside each month, not live paycheck to paycheck, slowly cut out unnecessary expenditures, etc.

To bring things back to the ancestor comment this was all responding to: people who can't leave a job because they're relying on a paycheck are definitely less powerful when it comes to being able to take a stand and make change at that job. People who are able to rely less on a paycheck have a bit more of a cushion in this area (especially when they have some savings for e.g. doctors, car problems, etc, and have enough set aside to find another job before those savings run out).

Anyone can put a % of their paycheck aside each month to become more financially independent. Whether they're at Google or not doesn't really matter here -- but, it is probably a bit more likely that an engineer at Google might be able to put aside a little bit more than a grocer at Target (and, is probably more capable of finding another job faster).

True. I was a bit flippant. But a software developer at Google is likely to be making six figures, and is likely to be able to find another job within a few months.

"I have to do something immoral or I won't be able to feed my family" is not a position they're likely to be in.